equipment that works
for them in the man-
ner that works for
them," says Ms.
Pennock.
What about my
state?
Ms. Pennock knows
what you're thinking:
What about my state?
Her response: Be
patient. "A lot of work has to be done over the course of 2-plus years
just to get a bill to the governor's desk," she says.
The early pace has 1 state per year going smoke-free: Rhode
Island last year, Colorado this year and Oregon likely next year. "It
just doesn't happen overnight," says Ms. Pennock. "It's often a
multi-year process to get a bill signed into law. You might be sur-
prised by the length of time and the amount of work each law
takes. We would love it if we introduced legislation in a couple of
other states next year and put a team of lobbyists together and it
went off without a hitch, but it's not possible to do it all at once. I'm
not quite a one-man shop, but we only have so much bandwidth on
the issue."
The key is knowing which states are ripe for legislative opportuni-
ties and which lawmakers are receptive to collateral talking points
and fact sheets. It's an easy story to tell and sell. "You can't help but
be disgusted at the thought," says Ms. Pennock. "Much like cigarette
smoke, it's bad for you. You can see it, smell it. Unlike cigarette
smoke, it's still in people's workplaces."
5 0 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • J U L Y 2 0 1 9
• BREATHE EASY Colo. Governor Jared Polis signing the bill that made Colorado
the second state in the nation to require facilities to use smoke evacuation devices.
